Pretty As A Picture
by Samayel
Summary: Shindou can't do what Touma asks of him for the new album, and Yuki makes things right.


Pretty As A Picture...by Samayel

Yuki Eire was only halfway through his day (which usually began several hours after his boyfriend skipped off to work) when Shuuichi burst through the door in tears and collapsed onto the living room sofa, sobbing and dribbling snot everywhere. Yuki was on the phone when the commotion started, and apologized politely before hanging up. "No. It isn't a problem. Forgive me, but I'll get back to you later. Just be sure that I'll take care of it. Goodbye."

Yuki's first thought was that it would take forever to clean the couch...and then he sighed as his generally buried empathy kicked in and he remembered that Shuuichi, for all his faults, was someone he did love. It might grate on his nerves to have to be 'the understanding boyfriend', but he could bring himself to do it...for Shuuichi. That alone was a triumph. For anyone less precious to him he would never have tolerated the constant disruptions to his life and work. Someone other than Shindou would have been barked at and promptly kicked to the curb...but it was his Shuuichi...and he'd grown oddly attached to even dramatics like these in the year since they'd first become lovers.

Yuki steeled himself, grabbed a towel from the kitchen table, and headed for the couch, sitting down beside his weeping lover. "Baka," he whispered affectionately, even though it should have been an insult. "What has you so upset, Shindou? Don't just stain the couch...take this and mop your face up...then explain it. It cannot be that bad."

Shuuichi took the towel and sneezed spectacularly into it, then cried a little more and wiped it away before looking up, red-eyed and with trembling lips. "Yuki! I'm no good! I fail at everything! It was just a photo shoot and I fouled it all up! The new album is supposed to be done and ready for stores in just a few months, and all they needed was an album cover shot...and I messed it up...in front of everyone! I can't even take a stupid picture! All I could do was run away and come home. They said they'd try tomorrow, but I know I can't do what they want."

Shuuichi's self confidence had always been problematic...even at the best of times. It usually called for firmness and support...and Yuki was only good at one part of those two. Supportiveness didn't come naturally to him...but when it mattered...for Shuuichi...he could grit his teeth and do it. Yuki leaned back on the couch, pulled a cigarette and lit it, then grabbed Shu's head and pulled him half into Yuki's own lap.

"Baka. Always. You get so overwrought about these things. So it didn't go right the first time. Who cares? You'll get it right eventually. Just...calm down and tell me what was so hard about a little photo shoot. What made it so hard? Think about it, Shu. It was something that bothered you inside...what was it? If you can say it...we can deal with it."

Shuuichi was curled on his side, still wiping tears away from his face, but feeling comforted just by being touched by Yuki. He could feel a hand brushing his hair away from his face, while he was sprawled across the couch with his head in Yuki's lap. Nothing seemed quite so bad now that he was here. He took some deep breaths, then let the days events pass from his lips at last.

"Seguchi Tohma...he said he had a concept for the cover art from his best photography people and marketers. They said...they said I'm...a sex symbol. The new album...there are some songs about...about how you make me feel. Tohma-san...he said his people wanted a sexy photo for an album that has such love songs in it. I understood. I thought it would be easy. They sent me to the art people...and they had everything set up...and I was just supposed to lie still and smile...with my eyes closed...like I was asleep and happy. Except...I had to be almost naked. I got nervous...and I laid on the sheets and they wound them around me just so...and It covered me so that it was tasteful...and I tried. I tried to do what they asked, Yuki...to look asleep and happy...but I couldn't."

Yuki stroked Shu's back softly and smirked. Shuuichi may have been a sex symbol of sorts, but he was a rare creature in a world where honesty and sincerity were hard to find. There wasn't a deceptive bone in Shuuichi's body. All that he thought or felt was matched by his words and deeds. There was no falseness or cruelty in him. He gave all that he could whenever he was asked...and it was hard to believe that anyone in this world could be so true and genuine. This was why Yuki returned Shuuichi's love. Because...of all the people he had ever known...only this teenage idiot had ever been so bold, so truthful, so persistent and so terrifyingly honest with him. Such a lover was probably more than he deserved, but he'd let his guard down and let it happen anyway. Scenes like this were a small price to pay for something like that.

"Ah. I see, Shu. That can't be all of it. What made you so nervous? It was just a photo shoot, and even if you were in your shorts and under a sheet, what made you feel so bad that you couldn't smile like you were happy in your sleep? There must have been something more."

Shuuichi sniffled a little, relaxing as Yuki rubbed his back. It was hard to remember why he'd been so sad a few minutes ago. He'd run for blocks, fighting tears that were already streaming down his cheeks, then collapsed when he'd come in the door. Now it seemed...foolish...and silly. But he could remember what he'd thought at the shoot more clearly.

"Yuki...I remember. It was the photographer. He said to close my eyes, and look like I was dreaming of my lover. I tried...but I couldn't do it. My face didn't look like a person dreaming of a lover. I thought of you...but I couldn't do what they asked. Not in front of people. When I think of you...the world is supposed to go away, but they were all there, with lights and cameras and make up...and I was almost naked, on the floor in a sheet...and I was so miserable I wanted to cry. I can't think of you like that...for them...only for you. They kept trying, and asking different ways...and I still couldn't do it...and I could hear them whispering about money and time and I finally begged for a chance to put my clothes on and use the bathroom down the hall...and I ran away. I let them all down because I can't do what they want...and everyone will be angry...and the album will be delayed. Tohma-san will be mad...and all that money was wasted..."

Yuki interrupted, "Shhhh. Don't worry about it. You worry too much, Shindou. It doesn't all hang on you. They can make an album cover without your help...and even Tohma-san is a reasonable person...especially if you just apologize and tell him you won't do it. You could say that it feels like exploitative marketing...or it doesn't match the character of the band and might damage your brand. All you need right now is to relax. The rest will make sense in the morning."

It seemed so much more plausible to Shuuichi when he was here, curled close to Yuki and feeling loved and protected. Everything would be fine...somehow. He wasn't even sure how...but if Yuki said it would all work out...it would...and that was that. The hand rubbing his back playfully slipped a little lower, and Shuuichi heard the cigarette being stubbed out while Yuki's other hand slid down the back of his pants and caressed his backside. Yuki's touch always made him melt...even more so when it was done while Yuki whispered things to him.

"Sex symbol, hmm? So impressive a title. I suppose I must be a very fortunate man...that I have this sex symbol all for myself. You're very beautiful, Shuuichi. They aren't wrong about that. I think I'd like to show you how beautiful you are."

Shuuichi looked up into the golden eyes above him, just in time to lift his mouth for a kiss that made everything he'd worried over or wept for slip away in an instant. The grief and fear he'd been torn apart by vanished, and all he could feel was happiness and hunger welling up from every pore of his being.

Hours later, as the sun began to fade from the sky, Yuki Eire looked back at what he'd accomplished. Lying on the bed beside him was a very tired young man, slim and fit, with hair that flopped gracelessly across the fine features of his face. Shuuichi's lips were just barely parted in a vague dreamy smile, content and full of joy that even sleep couldn't dim. Yuki had made love to him both gently and savagely, indulging Shuuichi in every way he could, giving as much pleasure as he could...very nearly more than his young lover could handle.

In exhaustion, Shuuichi was beautiful beyond compare. His face was a picture of sultry innocence, even after shockingly mature acts. Here, like this, Yuki could look at him in the fading light of day, and see the same guileless and honest spirit that he treasured above even fame or wealth.

Yuki stood up from the bed carefully, not letting his motions disturb his tired partner. He reached down to the nightstand and picked up his digital camera. Then Yuki strolled to other side of the bed, where the last light of the sun just barely illuminated a nearly naked Shuuichi...and the smile on those perfect lips could be clearly seen while Shuuichi dreamed the happy dreams of a contented lover. Yuki took just one picture, a single, tasteful, precisely framed shot, and then padded across the hall to his computer and plugged the cable in to download the photo.

They keyboard tapped softly for a minute, and Yuki sent the message on its way.

Seguchi Tohma,

I told you when you called that it wasn't a problem and I'd take care of it. Here's the photo you wanted. If I'd known that telling you how beautiful Shu is in his sleep would mean having to mop his tears off the couch...I'd never have accidentally inspired you to make this into some kind of album cover concept. You've worked with him long enough to know what he's like. There is no falseness in him. He cannot be the fake, plastic doll you can always be sure of getting from others. In exchange for this photo, do me a favor...don't ask him to be what you know he can't. I won't always be able to fix these messes so easily.

Yuki Eire

FIN


End file.
